The Making of a Witch
by apprentice wordsmith
Summary: Morwen wasn't always the formidable magic user, down to earth advisor, and willing herder of cats that we meet in the Enchanted Forest series. So how did she get to that point? No slash, sex, or profanity, but there is a bit of- not too graphic- violence along the way.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Morwen bolted down the path away from the house, hoping the other girls wouldn't find her. Why did they have to be so cruel? She didn't know how to fight back against them, and what was the point of learning to be a witch if she couldn't even keep a couple of bullies from taunting her?

Their awful, ugly voices rang in her ears as if they were standing before her, humiliating her as they done that morning:

"Morwen, Morwen, so ugly and red

Morwen, Morwen, her mama is dead

Morwen, Morwen, nobody likes her

Morwen, Morwen, Now, look; she's fled."

And the worst part was, every bit of the rhyme was true, Morwen couldn't help thinking as she brushed tears from her cheeks. She didn't even have parents to tell her that everything would be all right; she had to live with Mistress Piroska, the witch who taught them magic in her little dame school, the only one in Toure-on-Marsh.

Mistress Piroska treated her well enough, but sometimes Morwen wanted more than a simple, "Thank you, Morwen," whenever she finished her chores or brought a cup of tea to the older witch.

It wasn't fair, she thought, kicking at a rock. Other children had parents to hug them and tuck them in at night and say, "Well done," when they learned a new spell. But not Morwen.

She supposed she should be grateful to Mistress Piroska. Not many people would have plucked a homeless five-year-old orphan off the streets and given her an education. Morwen was old enough to realize that she probably would have starved if Mistress Piroska hadn't taken her in. So, put that way, living with a witch and going to magic school wasn't so bad.

Sometimes it was hard to remember that. Like today. Morwen wasn't sure why the other girls had decided to pick on her, but that didn't make their ugly little rhymes any easier to bear. She was neither the smartest girl in the school nor the stupidest; she was polite to everyone; and Piroska didn't treat her as a favorite to the exclusion of the others.

But she was an orphan, and poor, and the only one with red hair, and that was enough for some people. Like that nasty Celia and her cronies, who had taken it upon themselves to make Morwen's life a torment for the last few months.

Perhaps it was lucky that none of them knew enough magic to harm each other. Morwen was very conscious of the power a witch could harness, and she didn't want to lose control and blow them all to smithereens. Even Celia probably didn't deserve that; she was only a stupid little girl who'd been spoiled by her parents and sent to a school of magic because they wanted her to be _special_.

Morwen kicked at another rock and watched it spin off into the swamp with a loud _plop!_ She badly wanted something to change.

But, what? She wasn't big enough to get in a fistfight with Celia- not unless she had at least one ally, and all of the other girls were too afraid for that. Ignoring the teasing would only make things worse, as would tattling to Mistress Piroska.

"I wish I was somewhere else," Morwen muttered to herself. "Anywhere but here."

It began as an idle thought, but it grew in her mind as she did her chores and got ready for bed that night. The world was a big place, and though she was only eleven years old, Morwen had always been independent for her age. She knew how to cook meals and start fires, how to make her own clothes and cast simple spells. She knew which plants were safe to eat and which animals would try to eat her.

Maybe she should put theory into practice, and take herself away from school. It wasn't as though anyone would miss her too much. Mistress Piroska might wonder where she'd gone, but certainly none of the other girls would care.

Morwen nodded to herself. She would leave and make her own way. Now she had to decide where to go.

Linderwall was the closest kingdom, to the north and east. But Morwen had heard it was rather boring there. Everyone looked the same, dressed the same, and would be amazed to find a witch among them.

She amused herself for a moment with the idea of traveling to the king's castle and placing a spell upon his daughters. There were seven of them, the youngest only a newborn, and Morwen liked the idea of laying a protective enchantment over a little baby, if only to save her from bullies.

If only she knew the right spells to cast. But that was a skill to be learned later, and Morwen needed a solution now.

She had nearly drifted off to sleep when she thought of the perfect place for a witch to live. The Enchanted Forest was to the west, over the Mountains of Morning. She'd often stood at her window and gazed at the high peaks, imagining what was on the other side.

Now she would find out for herself.

oOoOo

A/N: Yes, I know it's short. But, don't worry; I won't leave you hanging!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Once she had a plan, Morwen didn't waste time. The next day, she gathered some food, water, and the tools to make a fire, then rolled a change of clothes into a blanket. That night, she slipped out of her room and went west, thankful that Mistress Piroska slept soundly in the next room.

Morwen knew the roads around the school like her own hands, and by the time the sun was up, she was through the swamp and climbing a hill, the first of many.

The Mountains of Morning were much nicer than Toure-on-Marsh. They were drier, for one thing, and smelled much better. No nostril-searing rotted plants here, only clear mountain air, sometimes with a hint of clean dirt, other times smelling of wildflowers. Morwen ascended higher and higher as the day went on, tying up her skirts to keep them out of the way and clambering over the occasional boulder when she couldn't find an easy way around it.

The creatures of the mountains left her alone, save for a small sparrow that flitted around her cheerfully. Morwen listened carefully to its calls, wondering if it was trying to speak to her, but eventually decided it was merely a bird happy to see another living creature that wasn't likely to eat it.

The sparrow left her after an hour or so, and from then on, she only saw brown-and-white eagles flying overhead and flocks of little white goats roaming the cliffs. None of them came near her, even when she stopped around noon to eat a little of the food she'd packed.

Refreshed by the meal, small as it was, she continued to climb. By the time the sun began to set over the mountains, she was high enough to see for miles to the east. If she looked a bit to the north, she saw a flicker of light that might have been the observatory in Linderwall. And to the southeast was Toure-on-Marsh, looking much more pleasantly green from a distance, now that she was looking down on the treetops instead of trudging through the squashy marsh.

The darkness came on rapidly, and Morwen quickly found a protected spot among the rocks. It wasn't an inn with a roaring fire, beef stew, and featherbeds, but it would do. She spread her cloak on the ground, gathered wood to build a cheery little campfire, and ate a little more of her bread, estimating that she had enough for two or three more days. By then she expected to be in the Enchanted Forest, and surely something would turn up.

With that comforting thought, she settled down to sleep as the first stars winked into the sky.

oOoOo

A soft hiss intruded on her sleep. Morwen blinked drowsily and would have dismissed it as just another sound of the night, but there it was again, closer this time. The noise brought her fully awake, and after an instant of confusion while she recalled her surroundings, she realized the hiss was _not_ a good thing.

She flung her cloak away and leaped to her feet, looking for the sound. The dying fire cast only a small light, and the moon wasn't much help, either, until a sinuous movement caught her eye from about twenty feet away. Another hiss and flicker of movement made her head jerk to the other side, desperate to see what was out there.

Rock snakes! That's what they were called. Morwen had never seen one, only heard stories, and she had no idea how to get rid of them.

But she had to do something, and fast, because they were slithering toward her and they didn't look very friendly.

Her hand fell on a stone and she snatched it up, hurling it at the nearest snake. The way it bounced off the snake's head might have been funny if Morwen hadn't been afraid for her life. While it was distracted, she dove for the fire, seizing the longest of the burning sticks in one hand and throwing on a few more with the other.

"Go AWAY!" she shouted, waving the flaming branch in the snake's face. She couldn't remember if snakes were afraid of fire or loud noises, but it couldn't hurt and, well, she had to do something.

The snake hissed and ducked away from the fire, and Morwen pressed her advantage as well as she could when there was another snake creeping up on her other side. She shoved the stick at the snake's eyes and it hissed in pain when sparks fell on it. Too afraid to feel sorry for the snake, she beat it away with all her strength.

But the swift movement crumbled the burned stick and only a tiny flicker of flame remained. Morwen's breath caught as she realized the other snake was between her and the campfire. She shouted and thwacked it on the nose with the stick, not caring when an enormous gust of wind fanned the flames of her little campfire.

Then the snake was gone, snatched away into the darkness by… something, she wasn't sure what. Well, Morwen wasn't about to say no to any assistance, and even if she'd wanted to decline, there was no time, because the first snake had come back for more. Hissing in pain and anger, burned by the fire she'd thrown in its face, it looked even bigger than before. She was forced to dodge away from it when it struck at her, but slipped on a loose stone and fell. The snake struck again, and she scrambled back, determined to stay alive and unbitten for as long as possible.

She raised her now smoking stick, ready to hit back, when there was a horrible _crunch!_ and the snake was squashed flat under a huge, scaly foot. Morwen's eyes went wide and she froze. The only thought in her head was, _Whatever's attached to that foot is much bigger than a rock snake._ And there was nothing she could do if it wanted to eat her.

She slowly looked up into enormous yellow eyes.

It was a dragon.

The fire cast just enough light to see that it was female, green, and at least four times as tall as Morwen. Terrified but desperate not to show it, she wracked her brain for any information she'd ever read about dragons.

Dragons. What had Mistress Piroska said about dragons? They spoke human languages. They were strict about manners and respect. They didn't usually eat people, but they had been known to carry away princesses and do battle with knights.

Well, Morwen was neither princess nor knight, but she could show respect, so she stood up and curtsied to the beast that was looking down at her with open curiosity. "Thank you for your help, madam," she said, her voice quavering with surprise and fear.

"You're very welcome, little girl," the dragon replied, her voice strong and deep like a tolling bell. "What are you doing in the Mountains of Morning at this time of night?"

"C-c-camping," she said, shivering. "I'm traveling to the Enchanted Forest and it was too dark to go any further."

"You're a bit young to be wandering around the mountains alone," the dragon said, and if a dragon's voice could sound dry, this one's did. "Shouldn't you be at school?"

"I was," she whispered. "But not anymore."

The dragon made a humming noise like a thousand bees. "Well, that's neither here nor there at this time of night. You're lucky I happened to be out late and happened to see you. Come along. There's a cave nearby that's much safer than camping in the open."

"Yes, madam," she said obediently, because there wasn't much else she could do.

She gathered her things while the dragon put out her little fire, and they were ready to go in only a moment. The dragon was turning to lead the way when she stopped short and said, "Might I have the pleasure of your name, little girl?"

"My name is Morwen," she said, looking up into those great yellow eyes with as much courage as she could muster.

"How do you do, Morwen?" the dragon said politely. "My name is Kazul."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Morwen's eyes rapidly adjusted to the low light and she found it easy enough to follow Kazul across the side of the mountain. They'd only gone a hundred yards or so when the dragon stopped in front of a shadowy maw. "This is it," Kazul said, her deep voice echoing off the rocks. "Come inside."

An image of her schoolmates' trickery bloomed in Morwen's mind and she planted her feet, determined to ask a few questions first. What came out of her mouth was a rather undignified, "Are you going to eat me?"

Kazul made a low rumbling noise that might have been a laugh. "Is there any reason I should eat you?"

"No. I haven't done anything to deserve that," she said, hiding her shaking hands behind her back.

"Then I'm not going to eat you."

"And what is this place?" she persisted, gesturing to the wide dark mouth of the cave.

"I told you; it's a cave that's safer than your little campsite. No one lives here," Kazul said, her voice softening. "It's a place for patrols to rest if the weather is too dangerous for flying. It'll be empty, though there might be some food left over. Woraug likes to have a snack whenever he's patrolling. And I don't mean a human snack," she added.

Morwen chewed her lip, thinking. "All right," she said after a moment. "As long as you're not going to eat me."

For an answer, Kazul disappeared into the cave, her great green tail slithering behind her with the rasp of scales on stone. Morwen followed.

The cave was dry and clean, its floor sandy and its walls smooth brown stone. Kazul said a soft word and a gentle light flowed throughout the cavern, seeming to come from everywhere at once without irritating Morwen's eyes. Kazul gestured that she should sit on one of the boulders lining the cave, and curled herself around another boulder with a contented sigh.

"Now, Morwen, tell me your story," the dragon said. "What are you doing in the Mountains of Morning? You're a bit young for adventures, aren't you?"

"I'm eleven," she said, stung by what she thought was an accusation. "And I can take care of myself."

"You were doing reasonably well against those rock snakes," Kazul conceded. "But you probably would have lost the fight eventually. The mountains have more dangers than a pair of snakes; I'm surprised you weren't attacked by the mountain trolls we've been fighting for the last few years. But what I want to know is, why were you camping in the mountains in the first place?"

"I told you," she said as politely as she could. "I'm traveling to the Enchanted Forest. I had to go through the mountains to get there."

"And your parents let you travel alone?" Kazul asked, frowning. "I'm no expert on humans, and dragons age differently than you, but isn't eleven a bit young for a journey like this?"

"I don't have parents," she admitted. "They died when I was little."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Kazul said quietly. There was a pause. "You must live with someone."

Morwen sighed and told her about Mistress Piroska and the school, careful not to mention her schoolmates.

"You ran away from your school?" Kazul asked when she finished, tilting her head to one side.

"I wasn't running away!" she protested. "I was just… running away." Her shoulders slumped. "The other girls were making fun of me and I wanted to be somewhere else." She clapped her hands to her mouth, embarrassed by her outburst.

"What were you going to do when you found the forest?" Kazul asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know. But people say that it's a good place for anyone who wants to be left alone."

"Children who wander into the forest don't always have an easy life," Kazul said. "They don't usually die- the forest looks after its own as well as it can- but you don't have to be dead to be enchanted or go hungry."

"What do you think I should do?" she said, pressing her lips together so she wouldn't cry.

Kazul lowered her enormous head to the ground so she was looking up at Morwen. "I think you should go back to school. Don't let the bullies drive you away from an education. Don't give them that power over you. I'll go with you," she added. "Maybe they'll leave you alone if you arrive in the company of a dragon. Then you can study hard, become a proper witch, and leave them behind when you're grown."

"Do I have to?" she whispered.

"You don't _have_ to do anything," Kazul said. "But I think you _should_ do it." Before Morwen could protest any further, she said, "Why don't you sleep for a while? You can think about it in the morning."

Morwen nodded. Sleep was the best idea she'd heard all day.

oOoOo

The first rays of sunlight streamed into the cave, falling on Morwen's face and rousing her from a pleasant dream, of which the only thing she remembered was the smell of cinnamon on toast. She blinked and realized the dream was only partly her imagination. Kazul lay in the doorway, her unblinking eyes fixed on Morwen, who hadn't realized that dragons smelled like warm cinnamon. Yet another reason to stay with Kazul.

As if she'd heard Morwen's thoughts, Kazul raised her head and looked around. "Good morning, Morwen," she said. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you." She sat up, untangling the blanket from her legs. "Did you keep watch all night?"

"Most of it. All was quiet," Kazul said. "Now, you should eat something and we can talk about what you're going to do."

Morwen nodded reluctantly. She really didn't want to go back to Toure-on-Marsh, and she tried to think of arguments against it as she refilled her water container at the closest spring, shook out her clothes, and made herself presentable.

When she came back to the cave- after dawdling a moment by the spring to wash her face and hands- Kazul was waiting.

"I know you think I should go back to school," she said, before Kazul could get a word out. "But I don't want to. If I didn't have to see the other witches, I'd go back- I never would have left- but I can't get rid of them."

"Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do," Kazul said. "As long as you live through the next few years, it'll be worth it. You'll be a fully-fledged witch, and able to make a living on your own."

Morwen hunched her shoulders and rested her arms on her drawn-up knees. "You sound like my mother used to."

Kazul chuckled. "Probably because I've said similar things to my own children. And to my grandchildren. Most of them are more stubborn than you."

She looked up. "You have a family?"

Kazul nodded. "They're all grown and living on their own. But I've never quite lost the habit of giving advice to people who need it."

She dropped her head on her knees. "I have to think about it. I really don't want to go back to school."

"I know," Kazul said quietly. "But think about it anyway."

So she did, nibbling on the bread Kazul had obligingly toasted for her and comparing her life at the dame school to her imaginings of the Enchanted Forest. She was safe, though unhappy, at school. She never had to worry about the roof over her head or the food on the table, and she was getting an education. Her classmates were annoying and she hated their taunting, but they hadn't done her any physical harm. She wasn't likely to die from their teasing unless she took their words to heart and harmed herself, and she didn't think that was likely. After all, they were only stupid little children and she, Morwen, wouldn't give them the satisfaction of breaking her down.

A life in the Enchanted Forest would be the exact opposite. She would be free to do as she liked, but she would have to worry every moment for her safety. She wouldn't eat unless she bought, gathered, or grew her own food; she wouldn't have a place to sleep unless she found one; she would never have a moment's rest for years and years, and unless she had a massive stroke of luck, it would never get any better. She might know enough about magic to survive, but she didn't know enough to make her life any more comfortable than that.

Living in the Enchanted Forest would put an end to her education. It was unlikely that she would get another place at school or an apprenticeship when she had no money to pay for either. That was a stopping block, to be sure. Morwen frowned. She liked books, liked to learn new things, and besides that, magic was useful. She turned ideas over in her mind for a few minutes, wondering if she could learn magic informally from the people she met in the Enchanted Forest. But that depended on pure luck, and while Morwen didn't mind taking a risk, she wasn't sure she wanted to take a risk that was likely to leave her starving or murdered.

But she would never have to hear Celia's teasing ever again. It was a tantalizing thought, and she wasn't ashamed to admit it to herself. Arguments for both plans warred back and forth in her mind.

The sun was fully up by the time she said to Kazul, "I've decided. I'll go back to school."

oOoOo

A/N: All right, ladies and gentlemen; you've made it this far, so I'm going to assume you're enjoying the story. If that's the case, and you want more, head over to my profile for more fanfics and information on purchasing my original fiction, now available on Amazon.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hello, you lovely people! I'm sorry for the hiatus, but I've been swamped by real life, including more original fiction projects than I could shake a stick at. See my profile page for details.

There will be more chapters of The Making of a Witch- maybe four more?- but they're only half-written. I'll get to them as soon as I can. And without further ado, here's chapter four.

Chapter Four

"I've decided," Morwen announced. "I'll go back to school."

Kazul nodded. "I think that's very wise of you, little one."

"But only until I'm a full-grown witch and I can live on my own," she stipulated. "I won't stay a minute longer."

"No one could reasonably expect you to. That's the whole point of growing up-so you can make your own living," Kazul pronounced. "Finish your breakfast and I'll help you return to Mistress Piroska. I'm sure she's worried about you."

Morwen shrugged. Mistress Piroska might wonder why a child in her care had vanished in the middle of the night, but Morwen didn't think she would actually worry about her.

Kazul lowered her head until she was looking Morwen in the eye. "I know she's not your mother, but unless she's a wicked witch, she probably cares for you and wants you to be safe."

Morwen couldn't imagine Mistress Piroska as a wicked witch, and giggled at the thought. A little absent-minded, maybe, and rather stern, but not wicked. She finished her food, smiling to herself, and was ready to go in a few minutes.

Staying with Kazul would have been a dream come true, but even she knew that she wasn't yet capable of the work the dragon would expect of her. And now that she'd decided to return to school, she was eager to get it over with.

"I'm ready when you are," she said as she joined Kazul outside the cave, her little bundle of possessions slung over her back.

"It's a long way back to your school," Kazul said. "Shall you ride on my back?"

Morwen's heart leaped at the possibility but she hesitated, not wanting to be rude. "Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't," Kazul said matter-of-factly, and with that encouragement, Morwen scrambled up the dragon's side and settled herself in front of Kazul's wings.

It wasn't exactly comfortable- Kazul's scales were smooth and hard as iron, and Morwen's legs stuck out to the sides because they were so short. But she was riding a dragon, and that was something. She clung to the spike at the base of Kazul's neck and gripped with her knees like she was riding a horse. "I'm ready."

"Hold on tight," Kazul ordered. She took a few running steps then leaped into the air with an enormous flapping of wings that raised a cloud of dust around them until they gained enough height to avoid it. Morwen hung on for dear life. Kazul's muscles bunched and rolled beneath her, and if she hadn't been perfectly balanced, she would have been flung off of her perch onto the ground.

They soared up and up, until the trees were like green broccoli crowns below them and the road was small as an earthworm. Morwen would have liked to raise her arms and imagine she was flying through the air unsupported, but she was so precariously placed that she settled for grinning up into the blue sky and breathing deeply of the crisp, cool breeze that tickled her face and ruffled her hair.

Too soon, Kazul was circling a field to land. Sheep scattered away from them, little white dots that bleated their indignation and fear to the world.

"We're not anywhere near the school," Morwen noted once Kazul was on solid ground. "Why did you land here?"

"There are too many trees near the school for a safe landing," Kazul said. "Don't worry; arriving at school on a dragon's back is impressive enough; it doesn't matter whether I'm flying or walking."

Morwen thought swooping down into the courtyard and terrifying her schoolmates would have been more interesting, but she didn't say that. Kazul began walking and she had to concentrate on staying on. They dragon's walking gait was even stranger than flying, though not as difficult to sit to. At least, if Morwen lost her balance, she would slide to the ground instead of falling out of the sky.

She recognized the field- it belonged to Farmer Jones, who had asked Mistress Piroska for a charm to cure his cow's hoof rot last year. They weren't far from the school, and she grimaced at the thought of going back. It was the right thing to do, but that didn't mean she liked it.

Going from Farmer Jones' field to the school was an easy journey of half an hour. Kazul walked faster than a human and once Morwen got used to the dragon's rolling gait, she didn't mind. They were mostly silent, Morwen only speaking to direct Kazul down one path or another until they reached Mistress Piroska's house on the edge of the village.

It was a reasonably sized house, with a dormitory, dining hall, and three classrooms forming three sides of a square courtyard. Most of the children were playing games outside; Morwen hadn't realized it was already time for morning break. There was Branna- she'd never done anything to Morwen- and neither had Nessa. Morwen smiled to see them playing hopscotch. The smile went away when she saw Celia, along with her cronies, gossiping in a corner. They were too grown up to play games, apparently.

Then someone noticed the dragon waiting outside the yard. Gasps and screams filled the air and the little yard erupted in a flurry of scrambling children darting this way and that, shoving each other in the doorways and hiding behind the columns of the arcade. Morwen sighed. Kazul wasn't so very frightening, only large. She wasn't even showing her teeth.

Morwen slid to the ground and peeked out from behind Kazul. The yard was still and silent for only a moment, then there was a ripple of movement at the hall doors, and Morwen's classmates stood aside for Mistress Piroska to appear under the arch.

Her teacher was white with fear or anger but she advanced steadily across the courtyard. Unable to meet her eyes, Morwen watched her feet with unaccustomed fascination. Mistress Piroska's wooden clogs clunked on the courtyard stones with metronome-like regularity, the sound keeping time with Morwen's heart.

It might have been minutes or hours before the _clunk-clunk_ ceased. Morwen slowly looked up, as if delay might lessen her guardian's fury.

"Well?" Mistress Piroska said. "What is the meaning of this?"

Morwen took a deep breath to give herself time to remember the proper form of introduction. "Good morning, ma'am," she said, willing her voice to remain steady. "May I present to you the dragon Kazul? She aided me when I was in danger. Kazul, may I introduce you to Mistress Piroska, my guardian?"

"How do you do?" Kazul said politely. Everyone within earshot flinched at her voice, like the tolling of a great bell.

Mistress Piroska looked about to explode with anger but she was too experienced to be overset by a mere dragon. "I'm very well, thank you," she said stiffly, with the air of a person whose rapidly-coalescing tirade has been suddenly and instantaneously cut off. "You have my thanks for your care of the child- if she was truly in danger."

"Madam, I assure you the danger was real," Kazul said. "Morwen showed great courage during her ordeal."

"Indeed. Well," she said to Morwen, "as long as you're not hurt, you may go inside. I will speak to you later."

"Yes, ma'am," Morwen whispered, then louder, "Thank you, Kazul, for helping me."

"It was my pleasure. And now you know where to find me, if you ever again need my help."

Thus dismissed, she had to leave the adults to talk. She dragged her feet the whole way across the courtyard, glancing back every few steps and wishing they would call her name.

But a mass of hands stretched forth from her classmates, seized her by the arms, and bundled her under the arcades like they thought Kazul would suddenly decide to eat her if she stayed in the open a moment longer. They whispered their worry to her and hoped she had escaped unscathed, but Morwen ignored them, choosing to watch Kazul's conversation with Mistress Piroska. She couldn't tell what they were saying, and it was a long few minutes before Mistress Piroska curtsied politely and Kazul bowed her head. They parted, Kazul walking back the way she'd come and Mistress Piroska returning across the courtyard.

Morwen stood tall as her guardian came near, determined not to shrink away even though Mistress Piroska looked frightfully grim. Her classmates murmured behind her but Mistress Piroska glared and ordered them out of the way. She put one hand on Morwen's shoulder, less firmly than Morwen expected, and steered her along the corridor and into the little room she used as an office.

Morwen shivered as the door shut behind her and fixed her eyes on the bookshelves behind Mistress Piroska's head. They were full of tomes of all sizes, some dusty, some well-thumbed, and looking at the lettering on their spines was easier than meeting her guardian's eyes.

"The dragon said you ran away."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Why?"

Morwen was silent, wondering if it was better to give her reasons and be ignored, or to keep quiet and still be ignored.

One of her guardian's eyebrows crept up her forehead. "Morwen. You will answer me."

She sighed. "It's like this-" and explained how she'd had enough of her classmates' wit at her expense, and run away to escape them.

Mistress Piroska listened grimly and at the end of Morwen's whispered speech, said, "And you didn't think to tell me, before you ran off and scared the life out of me?"

"I thought you knew and didn't care," she said, looking at her shoes and wishing a chasm would open in the floor and swallow her up.

She'd never before seen Mistress Piroska speechless, and it was a long moment of silence before her teacher shook her head gently and said, "I'm sorry I gave you that impression, dear. I thought you were only a little discontented, not so very unhappy, and that you'd be able to sort out your troubles without my help." She smiled ruefully. "And so you did. Not exactly in the manner I expected."

"I'm sorry, ma'am." She'd never felt so small.

Mistress Piroska put one finger under Morwen's chin so she had to look up. "I know, dear girl. You can make up for it by giving me a promise. Next time you're so unhappy, you must tell me so I can fix the problem. I have many children under my care, but you're the only one who lives with me and has no other adults to ask for help. So I want you to promise that you won't hide from me."

"Yes, ma'am," Morwen said, nodding. And she even meant it, for the most part. She was sure Mistress Piroska didn't want to hear her every little complaint but, well, sorting little complaints from big ones was part of being a grown-up, wasn't it? And Morwen wanted very much to be grown up. "But," she thought of another problem, "You can't protect me all of the time. Celia's father gives money to the school, and if you make her mad, she'll tell him and he'll stop giving to you."

"You think I can't handle Old Master Bain?" Mistress Piroska's eyes were alight with determination, but Morwen wasn't expecting her to add, "He hasn't a magical bone in his body, and if he thinks to harm the school because his daughter tells him to, I'll turn him into a toad."

Morwen clapped her hand over her mouth to stop her burst of laughter from escaping. "You wouldn't! Not really."

"You're right. Perhaps a mouse would be better," Mistress Piroska said, with air of serious consideration. "Now, I believe there's a few minutes left of the break time and I'm sure the other girls are frantic to learn about your adventure. You may go, and I'll speak to Celia later."

"Yes, ma'am. And, thank you." Morwen spun around and flung herself through the door, her heart swelling with happiness. Mistress Piroska believed her! And she wasn't even in trouble. She skipped down the corridor and slipped into the courtyard, where she was promptly mobbed by a crowd of her classmates, all demanding to know what had happened.

"A dragon?" Branna squeaked, her hands at her mouth. "How did you escape?"

"I didn't need to escape," Morwen explained patiently. "Kazul was very kind to me. She arrived at exactly the right moment- I thought those rock snakes were going to eat me for sure."

Of course, that set off another round of clamoring questions, and there was nothing for Morwen to do but tell them the story of her adventure. She carefully made it sound like she had left the school in search of a little excitement, not that she'd run away, and her classmates' gasps of awe and exclamations of praise almost made up for the scolding Mistress Piroska rained down on her head when she caught them talking during their afternoon lessons.

All in all, it was quite a successful adventure, Morwen decided as she lay on her narrow bed that night. Not that she cared to repeat the snake attack anytime soon.


End file.
